Consumers can improve their overall health and well-being by consuming nutritional products containing a balance of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Shelf-stable liquid nutritional compositions are a popular form of such nutritional products. Shelf-stable products are generally prepared and packaged in a manner that extends the shelf-life of the product and that also allows the packaged product to be safely stored at room or ambient temperature for long durations (e.g., more than twelve months).
The nutritional products are often formulated with certain active ingredients that help tailor the product to a specific therapeutic or nutritional benefit. Epigallocatechin gallate, also known as EGCg (or epigallocatechin 3-gallate), has been identified as one such beneficial active ingredient. However, the EGCg present in certain protein-containing liquid nutritional compositions can be sensitive to preparation techniques involving high temperatures, such as aseptic or retort sterilization techniques, generally used to obtain the shelf-stable product. EGCg present in these certain compositions will epimerize, chemically degrade (e.g., hydrolyze or oxidize), or both epimerize and chemically degrade when subjected to the high temperatures generally associated with aseptic or retort sterilization.